Hummmm… TASTY!

As part of my preparations for the storm that is now upon us, I spent the majority of my day yesterday cooking and preparing meals to have ready… in case the potential of ice-driven power outages did occur as the skies released their fury upon us.  So, I boiled eggs, fried bacon, roasted chicken and veggies and set aside the ingredients for additional sandwiches and desserts… and in the process… filled my house with a potpourri of delightful and mouthwatering fragrances.

And as you can imagine… FOOD was top of mind... for me… throughout the balance of my day.  I even found myself getting excited at the prospects of the coming storm and my need to hunker-down and stuff my mouth while reading a good book or two for the duration of the next few days!

But that wasn’t all that I was thinking about.  The picture of me stuffing my mouth with some delicious morsels of perfectly seasoned meats and vegetables also got me to consider how the Bible encourages us to stuff ourselves with delicious morsels of the perfectly seasoned and proven Word of God!

A favorite scripture of mine since moving to Tennessee and stepping into the new season of life set before me, has been Psalm 34:8 where the Psalmist wrote:

“O TASTE and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (KJV)

The Message Bible gives a little more description in line with my activities from yesterday, as I prepared for the storm, saying,

“Open your MOUTH and TASTE, open your eyes and see— how good GOD is. Blessed are you who run to Him.” (MSG) 

Other translations conclude this verse stipulating,

“…Happy and Blessed is the man, woman, boy or girl who put their trust and expectations in Him.”*

So… see if you can follow my train of thought here… The Psalmist is using the analogy of an individual bringing food to their mouths and tasting it, as a comparison to an individual tasting, through the hunger of their hearts, the delicious and nutritious Word of God and thereby taking it into themselves and making it to be a part of them and their lives.

When we eat, the food we put into our mouths, chew up and swallow, eventually becomes a part of us.  It is nutritious for us, strengthens us, feeds us and helps to keep us healthy.  It is a very personal and individualistic type of activity.  Most people I know are not going to expect (nor want) someone else to chew their food for them and then return it to them to swallow… RIGHT?  Gross thought… but true!  Eating the great variety of wonderful foods available to us is something most of us enjoy… the fragrance, the texture and the taste… RIGHT?

Well… that is why the Psalmist compares our study of the Word to the idea of one bringing food to their mouths, inserting it, tasting it, chewing it, savoring it and then swallowing it so that it can do the actual work that nutritious food is designed to do for the human body.  If you and I refuse to eat, our bodies will eventually break down and wither away with sickness or disease.   The same is true of our need to regularly take in the life-giving, strengthening and good health giving (both spiritually and physically) Word of God.

If we refuse to partake of the Word, and not take the time and effort to taste it, chew it and swallow it, our spirits will become starved and weak and have ZERO effect in our daily lives.

I just took a break to get some lunch and opened my refrigerator to see its shelves stacked with good food and boy… was I ever tempted to eat it all!  And that friends… is the same way that I believe the Lord wants us to react when we open up our Bibles and see it’s pages full of delicious, nutritious and POWERFUL morsels of God’s Word!

YUMMMMMMMMM!  I’m ready to TASTE and SEE… How about you?  Have a great rest of your weekend and I’ll try to post some updates on the storm throughout the weekend!

 

*JBS, BBE, DRB, ABP+ and Brenton translations